Rheumatologist Appointment
 

So I am back from a follow up with my Rheumatologist. A few weeks back he ordered a bone scan an it came back as showing inflammatory arthritis in my Right Knee.

He also did some quick testing and determined that I have Fibromyalgia.

Wanted to start me on Anti-depressants but I said no. I've been that route before and do not want them again.
So he gave me an Rx for Flexeril in addition to my other meds (Oxycontin & Oxycodone IR ) and wants to see me back in six weeks. I did mention that Flexeril used to work but then just stopped and it no longer affects me but he gave it to me anyways.

He also thought I should see a psychiatrist for help with the Anxiety and panic attacks. I am still debating on whether or not I will. Not to offend anyone but I personally don't agree with them.

I also showed him a copy of my blood test results that showed weak positives for Lyme Disease and he basically laughed at them. Told me a whole bunch of things about IgeneX. He told me that these tests a not run by Medical doctors and that my Indeterminate results meant that I do not have lyme.

With all the symptoms I have and now the confrimation of arthritis in my knees Lyme makes more and more sense. The pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly.

I will see a LLMD on 12/12 it was supposed to be on 12/5 but it was rescheduled. I do hope he will help and agree this is Lyme but what I really want is one of my regular doctors to agree so i can get insurance (medicare) to pay for the treatment. If they don't there is simply no way I can aforrd it, NONE !!! PERIOD, END OF STORY !!

Hello Quahog,

I am sorry you are in so much pain. I know pain and it can be debilitating.
Inflammatory Arthritis is so painful, I have it in my right knee.
I'm also sorry about the Fibro diagnosis. People suffer so from this.
I hope the Flexeril will give you some relief. I have never taken this, so don't know the effects that it has.
Isn't it a shame that you have to hope that you have a disease, so you can get insurance. It's just heartbreaking. I hope everything turns out the best for you.
Just wanted to let you know, I care,
Linda :)

Quahog,

I am sorry for all the frustrations that you have been going through. I can certainly relate to many of them as I have been there myself.

I wanted to comment on the anxiety/panic aspect. In my case I do have anxiety/panic disorders which I have had since age 4. At the beginning of my physical health mess, my doctors wanted to blame every physical symptom on my anxiety.

The ONLY reason they stopped blaming the anxiety and started treating me seriously is because I had my psychaitrist write a medical report which basically called the doctors idiots and said that in his expert medical opinion as my treating psychaitrist my physical symptoms were NOT caused by anxiety.

So my point is that you may disagree with the doctors who labeled you as anxious - and you are probably right as you know yourself better than they do... but one of the quickest ways to convince them that they are wrong is to have a mental health professional tell them that they are wrong.

So, if you are able to see a mental health doctor with your insurance, i would go and see them. Get the evaluation and all that... maybe you do have anxiety, maybe you don't. Even if you do have anxiety it doesn't mean that the anxiety is the cause of the physical symptoms. But unfortunately your doctors will only believe that if they hear it from a mental health professional.

I have ben dealing with physical health problems for over 5 years now... and i still have to bring a letter from my psychaitrist every time I see a new specialist -- because they ALWAYS want to blame the physical stuff on my anxiety... and then they see the letter and instantly change their tune.

Take care,
Liz

Unfortunately with doctors, they like to blame one problem on the other issues you may have. If you have FM, they blame that pain on anxiety and depression. Then you are depressed because you have FM. Not for any other reason besides that.
Doctors just love to shift blame so that they don't have to treat you I think. Passing the buck.

That's a good point Wendy.

Maybe it's easier for a doctor to blame anxiety/depression than to say "I don't know"... maybe it's easier for a doctor to blame anxiety/depression than to say "I don't know how to fix this for you".

All I know for sure, is that doctors love to blame fibro on mental health issues, and they love to blame unknown physical symptoms on mental health issues also.

It still amazes me that when I go see a specialist, they do their exam and ask me questions - then they blame the anxiety - then i take out my letter from my psychaitrist that shows that it is NOT the anxiety - then all of a sudden the specialist gets a 'new' idea and orders blood tests or imaging studies.

It makes me mad because they only order those tests AFTER I bring out the letter. It's as if they want to take the easy way out (blame the patient's mental health) and when they can't do that, then they decide to take other action - which usually leads to proper answers.

So true. I submitted to a complete psychological evaluation early on, just to prove that my physical symptoms weren't all in my head, and it has proved invaluable many times over the past few years.

Quahog, I was on the flexeril for a while, and it wasn't a bad med. But it did have a tendency to cause periods of sudden drowsiness, so I'd be careful about driving until you see how you react to it. Good luck!